The best of both worlds
by samanddianefan10
Summary: Sam is hospitalized at Boston Mercy when he encounters two very unusual doctors. Who will give him the care he needs...the stuffed shirt Dr. Winchester or his newfound partner in crime, Dr. McIntyre?
1. Chapter 1

Sam Malone was the star, if not necessarily best, player for the Red Sox, especially that year. He was in the prime of his life, women were throwing themselves at him and money was no object. Most of his money went to booze and women, not necessarily in that order, but there wasn't a thing in the world he couldn't get if he threw his name around.

But today was a day unlike any other. Today he's been laid up, on Coach's orders, at Boston Mercy. It was around 1975 and he'd been struck down in the middle of a game with chest pains. So by Coach's orders he was checked into the best hospital in Massachusetts.

He hated it. He hated the thought of being bedridden until he discovered that his charm worked wonders with the nurses. He was lying down, with a bevy of beautiful nurses surrounding him, until a male, presumably a doctor, very authorative, figure walked in. He was tall, balding and somewhat stocky. Sam hated him already.

"Ladies, I can see that you are consumed by the charms that this man believes he holds over you. Believe me when I say I've seen men with less charm and somewhat more personality than Sam Malone over the years. In fact, some of these men are here at Boston Mercy. How can I put this delicately?" He paused for dramatic effect. "Vamoose."

The ladies left, leaving Sam all alone with the doctor. This wasn't going to be easy, but Sam was sure he could win over the doctor in order to get his time with the nurses again. "Doc, I wanna say, nice place you've got going here."

"Save it. I'm not a blonde with an IQ of twelve you can win over with your personality. I am here to do my job, no more, no less."

"Say do you have a name, or shall I just keep calling you Doc?" Sam laughed.

"My name is Dr. Winchester. You may call me Dr. Winchester. If you call me Doc, buddy, pal, I will immediately do this."

With that, Charles Winchester the third turned around and left the room. Sam sighed. It was going to be a long week.

00000

"So, Chuckles, what brings you by my office?" John smiled as he placed his feet upon Charles' desk.

"I shall now have to sterilize my entire office, thanks to your offensive foot odor. Now let's get down to business shall we?"

"What's up doc?"

Charles rolled his eyes. He could see why his roommate during Korea got along apparently so well with this person. "Dr. McIntyre, I would appreciate it if you were to see to one of my patients."

Trapper laughed. "You never give me any of your patients. You're the top dog around here. What's up with that?"

"Let's just say I believe you two shall carry on very well."

"Carry on? Is she pretty?"

Charles rolled his eyes. "It's a he. Sam Malone, apparently a sports figure of some type. He actually brings to mind your one time best friend, whom shall remain nameless thankfully."

"Hawkeye? He reminds you of Hawkeye?" Now Trapper's eyes lit up. This could prove to be a very interesting case.

"I never said the name. All I said was that I think you would be a better fit as a physician than I could be, so will you take over the case or not?"

Trapper smiled. "Anything for you, Chuckles."

God it was a small world. Of all the hospitals in Boston why did this one have to hire one of Pierce's simian friends?

"Go on. Get out of my office." With that, Charles sprayed the office down with disinfectant and looked over his next case load.


	2. Chapter 2

Trapper thought long and hard before picking up the phone. This was probably the hardest call he'd ever made in his life, even harder than when he called his wife from a bar one night to tell her that he wouldn't be returning home-ever. Louise had been furious over the phone, so he'd only imagined what he reaction would have been if he'd been man enough to break up their marriage face to face.

"Hawkeye?"

"Hawkeye? I haven't been called that in at least twenty years. Who is this?"

"Whatcha matter, you forget all about your old buddy John? Or as I'm still affectionately referred to as, Trapper? Trapper John- from Korea?"

He waited for the ear lashing that he was sure was to come. Trapper had been a good buddy during Korea, but things were left unspoken for nearly twenty years so he couldn't blame his one time best friend for not wanting to speak to him.

"Trapper...Are you serious? This is Trapper?"

"Speaking. How the hell are ya?"

Suddenly both parties broke into a fit of laughter, as if they were just picking up from days rather than decades ago.

"So you're no longer Hawkeye huh?"

"I left that behind with the war, along with my sanity."

"Yeah I kind of heard about that."

"How? We haven't spoken..."

"Well it seems like I work with a former tent mate of yours. I do believe you remember Charles Winchester the Third?"

There was a pause on the other line, and Trapper could only imagine what Hawkeye must be thinking.

"Charles? Of all the hospitals in Boston you work with good old Charles? This world is getting smaller by the minute!" Hawkeye laughed again.

"Yes. Once he realized that we have something in common- you and Korea- he started acting holier than thou. Man that gets under my skin!"

"You work with him. You never had to live with him. Go figure."

Trapper smiled. Yes it was good to hear his old friend again.

"Well I just wanted to call and say..."

"Yes?" Hawkeye interjected in a hurry.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry."

Twenty years in the making, and Hawkeye still didn't know what to say when this moment finally arrived. "Yeah." he settled on.

As Trapper hung up the phone, he realized that there was more, so much more, that he'd wanted to say to his friend. Maybe another day.

0000

Trapper went in to check on this Sam Malone. Of course Trapper recognized him right away...he was a big time baseball player! Apparently doctors were not immune to celebrity worship.

"Hey there, what's a strapping baseball player doing in a place like this?" Trapper smiled as he read briefly through Sam's chart.

"You tell me doc..."

"And we'll both know," they said in unison. They looked at each other, and right away Trapper knew he was going to like this Malone fellow.

"Can I ask you a question, Doc?"

"Hey why the formalities? Call me Trapper," he said as he extended his hand.

Sam grabbed it and shook it back. "is that...is that a professional name?"

"My friends call me Trapper. It's a long story."

"Are your friends like that bald jerk that was in here a little bit ago? Because if you're friends with him then maybe I need a second opinion, no offense Trapper."

Trapper laughed. "Friends? I wouldn't call Charles Emerson Winchester the Third a friend. We know some of the same people, that's all."

"Oh yeah? You all from the same school or something?" Sam asked, his interest now piqued.

"Yeah, if you call Korea a school."

"That's right...that's that war from a long time ago. Wasn't it like a hundred years ago or something?"

The laughter began to fade. "Something like that."

"Hey I didn't know..history wasn't my best subject in school," Sam apologized.

Trapper looked him over once more. Now he saw why _Dr. Winchester _asked him to take over this case. It would prove to be a very interesting one, indeed.


	3. Chapter 3

He and Charles- at the same school? Trapper was tempted to tell that to his boss, if only for a good laugh. After all, Charles went to _Hah-vahd _and never missed an opportunity to remind people of that. That Malone was a funny one, if not the brightest bulb in the world.

His conversations with both Sam and Hawkeye fresh in his mind, Trapper found himself alone and reliving a time in his life that he'd thought well behind him- Korea. Maybe Sam was right; it might as well have been a hundred years ago. Trapper was a proud man and was happy to have convinced himself that he left there bearing no battle scars, but today proved him wrong.

He had survived, unlike some of the greatest men he ever knew. There was Henry for starters. Maybe not perfect, but he was enough of a man for him to have named his and Louise's final child after him, their only son. Trapper never missed a chance to tell his boy Henry about his namesake, something that his then wife had not approved of at the time. She still didn't like it, for he was afraid that "the boys" of Korea had been a bad influence on her husband. If only she had met Hawkeye.

Hawkeye. Why was it that after twenty years he still couldn't forget the guy? What made Pierce so special that he had to place a call to him after all those years and he felt worse for the wear? It was just a phone call for crying out loud! But it was to the man who had effectively saved his life at the time he most needed a lifeline, and for that, Trapper knew that he owed it all to the man now known as Benjamin.

What the heck was up with that, anyways? He was Hawkeye. If he'd ever been ashamed of his nickname, which he hadn't been, certainly he would have said something to Trapper during their time at Korea. But he hadn't, so he had never considered it an issue. But Charles had mentioned something about a nervous breakdown at the end of the war, and for that, Trapper was all the more curious about his long-lost friend.

Of all the people in the world, or at least the ones he'd encountered during his tenure as a surgeon, Hawkeye (Trapper was sorry, but he would always be Hawkeye, at least in his mind) was the last one he'd suspect of losing their marbles. He had tried and tried and tried to wrap his mind around it, but it didn't make sense. There were pieces of the puzzle that didn't add up, no matter how often Trapper had tried to pry it out of his boss. Korea was off limits, at least in conversation, so it didn't matter how persistent Trapper was, Charles wouldn't budge. He would not disclose anything else about Hawkeye, that was his prerogative.

Trapper had thought about calling when he'd found out about it. But it wasn't until about two years after Charles had started that they'd actually held a conversation long enough for Trapper to deduce that Charles in fact knew Hawkeye Pierce. He'd never forget it. Of course, Charles was drunk; that was what made Trapper find him likable at the time. It was at a work party, after hours of course, and somehow someone had brought up that "police action."

"_My dear colleagues," Charles had begun. "If there is one thing I shan't be discussing tonight, it's Korea. I've had enough of Korea to last a lifetime."_

"_Oh, you were there too?" Trapper drunkenly pried. He didn't care. He had had his share of drinking to forget as well, and could probably understand Charles Winchester The Third better than anyone. That was, if he really cared to understand him._

"_Yes," Charles sighed. "I was stationed at an insane asylum none of you would be familiar with. However, we did provide the best care..."_

"_Anywhere?" Trapper excitedly finished._

_Charles stared at him. "How would you know of the 4077?"_

"_Because, Charles, I was stationed there too!"_

_Charles began to rub his forehead. He was getting a headache, something which rarely occurred when he drank. "Don't tell me..."_

"_You know Hawkeye!" _

"_Knew. Knew Hawkeye. And please don't remind me. As it is this conversation has lasted at least five minutes longer than I would have cared to indulge in."_

_That son of a gun knew Hawkeye. _

For some reason, Trapper knew that he had to stay on at Boston Mercy. In a strange way he was connected once again to his best friend, and it had given him more hope than he had ever credited either Charles or Hawkeye for. Yes, he just had to get to the bottom of the breakdown.

But Sam's chart lay in front of him, and Trapper realized that he truly had his work cut out for him. If only Hawkeye were there...

TBC


End file.
